we like it wild: fall collection board

After a few weeks of unusually high temperatures for this month, we are finally feeling autumn in northern California. Always inspired by the wild plants that cover the roadside and hills, we thought we’d bring some fall inside by making a collection board. We took the dogs and collected bits of weeds from our overgrown backyard and a hillside behind our house. Though most of the plants we came across had finished blooming for the season, their new fall colors and interesting structures gave them a second wind. We are always amazed to see the evolution of the beginning of a green shoot in the spring to a flower in summer and a seed pod in the fall.

One of our favorite parts of putting together a collection board is identifying our specimens. Amateur botany can be really fun if you have a little guide that illustrates different weed structures and helps you put names to “faces.” Discovering, collecting and labeling is also a great activity to do with kids (just avoid sharp barbs, thorns and poisonous leaves).

Collection Board Materials

18” x 24” corkboard

staple gun

22” x 28” piece of quilt batting

22” x 28” piece of canvas fabric or burlap

T-pins (available at the fabric store)

fall specimens

Instructions

1. We started our project with an old, unused corkboard. Lay the piece of canvas on the table (it helps to have it ironed and smooth), then lay the quilt batting on top of the canvas. Place the corkboard (cork side down) on top of the batting.

2. Start from the middle of one of the long edges and staple (like stretching a canvas, if you’ve ever done that). If your board has a backing, you can staple into that, but if it is double-sided cork, you’ll need to staple into the wood edge of the frame. Stretch tight across and continue stapling out from the middle until you reach the ends. Repeat on the shorter sides. Fold each of the corners up and staple. If the edges stick up too much just run a strip of heavy tape along the edge to hold it down.

3. Next, arrange your specimens on the board. You can use weeds you collect, small gourds, pine cones, nuts, rocks or anything else that inspires you.

4. Try to vary the way you arrange the items like we did below to make the display more interesting:

Open up a tiny pod and show off the pretty black seeds. It is sometimes easier to glue delicate items to the board instead of pinning.

Try cutting the round heads off of pods and display them without their stems.

Make tiny bundles of delicate stems and bind with string or twine.

Display a flower and its seeds next to each other in tiny bottles and attach to the board with twine and a pin.

I love this…going to take my 9 year old hiking and make one for ourselves!!! I also love the fact that it is free, natural and doesn’t involve shopping. I am getting a little soured by all of the design blogs promoting products…ie stuff! Nature is so much more awe inspiring! Thanks this was the sweetest one yet and love the sweater!!!

I love your sweater! And your dog’s sweater! I can’t wait to wear a sweater and go out hunting for fall weeds! Unfortunately, here in Tennessee, it’s still to hot to wear a sweater like that, and most of our plants are still green:(

alethea’s awesome sweater is from h&m! the outdoor photos were taken in the hills of pacifica. and the 2 big dogs are both cattledog mixes- they are adopted so we are not completely sure what they are. we were told the littler guy was a corgi mix.

you guys always have my favorite posts here, and this time is no exception! as a girl here in the bay area i used to collect things just like you and seeing your board is inspiring and also brings back sweet memories! my house is still filled with pinecones and rattlesnake grass.

Great Post. I’m happy I’m not the only person exploring the natural treasures of the earth and documenting it. it’s inexpensive and fun to make postcards of these type of collections too. And oh my what a great idea for poster prints !

Design*Sponge reserves the right to restrict comments that do not contribute constructively to the conversation at hand, that comment on people's physical appearance, contain profanity, personal attacks, hate speech or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business. Our goal is to create a safe space where everyone (commenters, subjects of posts and moderators) feels comfortable to speak. Please treat others the way you would like to be treated and be willing to take responsibility for the impact your words may have on others. Disagreement, differences of opinion and heated discussion are welcome, but comments that do not seek to have a mature and constructive dialogue will not be published. We moderate all comments with great care and do not delete any lightly. Please note that our team (writers, moderators and guests) deserve the same right to speak and respond as you do, and your comments may be responded to or disagreed with. These guidelines help us maintain a safe space and work toward our goal of connecting with and learning from each other.